very often slappable when expressing his opinions, as in his travel writing).

Oh thank goodness for that, I thought it was just me!

I tried to persevere with 'notes from a small island' even though it read like a list of grumpy B&B reviews. However, when I got to the bit where he was complaining about the lack of public transport in a run down Gwynedd village - on a Sunday, in January - I couldn't take any more.

Being a product of the comprehensive school system in the later 80s/early 90s I struggle with grammar. We weren't taught the rules of grammar or syntax and I can't tell an adjective from an adverb.

I had a generally excellent education in the comprehensive school system but English was the weak point. Indifferent English teachers throughout my entire high school experience who went at their pace whether any of us in the class understood or not. I remember about a three week period where our normal teacher was ill and the substitute teacher simply gave us copies of the Hobbit and told us to shut up and read during every class without any tuition at all. That bored me rigid because I'd already read the book before then. When the normal teacher returned, she slotted into her schedule and simply abandoned any idea of trying to cover the stuff we missed in the three weeks before; the first day back she set us homework of having read a chapter set of a new book that was half way through the book and then she got upset next day when none of us had completed the homework.

The only reason I have anywhere near a decent grasp of English is through the amount of reading I do and some very severe marking during my degree! In the first year of my degree I think I lost about 5% out of every subject's marks due to being marked down for poor grammar skills.

Arguing with the forum trolls is like playing chess with a pigeon. No matter how good you are, the bird will **** on the board and strut around like it won anyway

I tried to persevere with 'notes from a small island' even though it read like a list of grumpy B&B reviews. However, when I got to the bit where he was complaining about the lack of public transport in a run down Gwynedd village - on a Sunday, in January - I couldn't take any more.

So are his other ramblings worth a look, then?

Yes, a Short History of Everything and a At Home: A Short History of Private Life are both enjoyable and rewarding reads. Friends who know more about science grump that he gets some difficult concepts wrong, but it doesn't trouble the layman very much. Made in America and Mother Tongue have already been mentioned as good reads. The only travel book of his I recommend is Lost Continent, where he travels through small town USA.

It was the same incident in Small island that annoyed me, too. He was grumping something awful about the Festiniog Railway train from Blaenau not having been held to await the late train from Llandudno. If the annoying person had done some bleedin' research he would have realised that if you want to use public transport from Blaenau to Porthmadog you get the number 1 bus, which takes half the time and costs a quarter of the price, and yes, it does run on a Sunday. Neither Here Nor There was even worse, he spends the whole time whinging and getting drunk. When he complained about there being nothing to do or see in Sion, Switzerland, a town with two castles and surrounded by vineyards, I hurled the book into the nearest wall. Did Not Do The Research. The one set in Australia was annoying too, five minutes in the place and he's pontificating about the Australian national character as if he'd been living there for years.

Thus spelling, grammar, punctuation, style 'n stuff, are important in ensuring correct communications. Context, usage, medium, situation all come into this, That is why shopahlic and chocaholic are acceptable as teh meaning is clear whether of not the word construction is correct.

Thus spelling, grammar, punctuation, style 'n stuff, are important in ensuring correct communications. Context, usage, medium, situation all come into this, That is why shopahlic and chocaholic are acceptable as teh meaning is clear whether of not the word construction is correct.

I believe you are an EFL teacher, so I am glad you got that right. Both are acceptable. As I understand it, "May I...?" is more formal, but "Can I...?" is a perfectly acceptable, if somewhat informal, alternative. It works because you are asking about ability, which would depend on the permission being granted, so in a roundabout way, it is asking permission.

Untrue, you could also ask "Could I borrow...?" but it would have nothing to do with the past tense or ability. Most modal verbs have multiple meanings that sometimes have little or nothing to do with each other.